Show Review

After a long absence from the Pacific Northwest, moe. made a triumphant return to Portland Oregon’s Crystal ballroom on April 8th, where they happened to bring bluegrass rockers Railroad Earth along for the ride. The audience showered the band with their approval, and left no doubt that moe. has adoring fans here who absolutely love these rockers. From the first note it was quite obvious that Portland had missed the moe. boys bad, and based on their response to the crowd’s rousing approval, I’m thinking they might come back around these parts real soon.

Railroad Earth started things off with a nice grooveable mix of bluegrass numbers, with a little rock and roll feel. Their set was solid and really picked up speed toward the end with strong versions of "Long Way to Go" and "Little Rabbit." The crowd was into it, but the nature of the early start of the festivities, left the ballroom still filling up as the RRE set ended. Tonight they were but the appetizer, for a true feast of moe. treats.

moe. wasted no time in getting the Crystal Ballroom bouncing, and when I say bouncing I literally mean BOUNCING. The Crystal Ballroom is known as a venue where you can “dance on air,” and the ultra bouncy dance floor fulfills this disclaimer. Just make sure you are boogying next to people with solid rhythm, or else you may get bounced off beat, which can really throw you off.

"Recreational Chemistry" as an opener is about as big a way to kick off a show as moe. has in their ever growing bag of tricks. It also starts off in this kind of laid back ethereal groove that builds until Rob Derhak’s seemingly ever repeating bassline sets audio fire to the audience’s eardrums. This jam built and grew until a smooth transition led into the tasty "Bring it Back Home." The "Rec. Chem." was left unfinished, but we all had a feeling we’d see that one again. I’ve been a huge fan of "Bring it Back Home" ever since it dominated and saved a technically flawed set back in the incredible Summer Sessions tour in Berkeley ‘99, and as always the band brought the heat on this number. It is smooth and rocking all at the same time, and the composed sections of the song are as interesting as the jam itself. Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey took the jam over with their layered guitar interplay, and the band just brought the heat from the first note. The transitions continued nicely into "Water" which was solidly played, and full of ripping Chuck solos. In all honesty, I'm not the biggest fan of this song, I feel that the chorus is a little whiney, but the jam was tight, the solos were inventive, and in reality that is why I love moe. anyway.

"Bullet" continued the first set musical onslaught, and ripped us a new eardrum. I love this tune, and tonight Chuck owned this song. Not to mention that it really is a terrific jam vehicle, especially tucked away in the middle of an already jam packed first set. Rob also shined on this one, as he just sometimes adds so much to the groove with a subtle baseline. The drumming tandem of Vinnie Amico and Jim Loughlin seemed to act as one force that drove this song from beginning till end, especially during the crashing symbols that signaled that the band was heading back into the chorus toward the end of the song. This set meant business, and the audience seemed to achieve a euphoric state of musical bliss quite early on in the evening. "Shoot First" brought the first of many guests that night, as Tim Carbone, the violinist from R.R.E. added some of his musically accented flavor to the already tasty moe. stew.

Then the meat hit the fan and we were left speechless. moe. brought out one of their biggest jam vehicles and hardest rocking tunes to finish us off. "Meat" is about as monstrous a song as it gets for moe., and they truly let us have it. Any band that would release a CD single of a song that clocks in over the 46 minute mark, knows they have a musical beast on their hands and this "Meat" lived up to all expectations. Tim continued with his assistance, and moe. basically tore the place down. The jam got so fired up that Rob actually broke a bass string during the heat of the jam, and that is not easily done. After the smoke cleared there were smiles everywhere, and a lot of people were just simply trying to grasp their breath after that mammoth first set. moe. was back in the Northwest, and they showed us all what they could do.

The second set had a completely different feel than the first. It was a little slower and spacier, and in my view the song selection was a little off. The "Faker>The Road>Head" trifecta was well played, but didn’t hold up to the intensity displayed during the first set. These jams were long, and drawn out. They had their moments, but the second set’s energy really couldn’t compare with the first. "Captain America" is always well received, and the audience seemed pretty familiar with this moe. anthem. To close the set off moe. busted out the "Wake Up" into the fiery "Rec. Chem." reprise for the set closer. It was a great jam and had the Crystal bouncing once more.

The Encore was quite amazing, and even featured all of R.R.E. at points and a cameo of the legendary (yet deceased) John Wayne on Bass. The Crystal has a lifelike cutout of John Wayne, and Rob played his bass from behind the cutout to appear as if Wayne was throwing it down. Wayne’s jam was quite funny, and I doubt he ever threw down on bass like that before. "Time Again" was a perfect song for some collaborative work between the moe. boys and John Skehan and Tim Carbone on mandolin and violin respectively. The encore featured a little country, a little bluegrass, and a little of that quintessential moe. offbeat humor that fit the bill perfectly. The Bill Monroe’s bluegrass instrumental "Salt Creek" was next, and again seemed like a perfect choice. Rob left the stage to allow the R.R.E. Bassist Johnny Grubb to step up to the plate on his upright. If that wasn’t enough, all the members of both R.R.E and moe., joined together for a ripping "Waiting for the Punchline" to cap off a tremendous night of music and euphoric celebration. moe. was back, and we couldn’t have been happier. I just hope that we won’t have to wait another two years for these incredibly talented musicians to run musical havoc through our neck of the woods. Thank you moe. for bringing it back home to Oregon, we can’t wait to do it all again.

For more info see moe.org